She has touched me. My hatred for her has gone the way of the wind. She saved my life." He quickly related the tale about the rattlesnake and how she had broken her silence to warn him. "You would prefer that she live for always away from you?"
Hunter's gut contracted. In that instant he realized how much he wanted the woman beside him. "I would prefer that my eyes never again fall upon her than to see her die." His mouth twisted. "She has great heart for one so small. She makes war with nothing, and wins."
Many Horses nodded. "
, yes, Warrior and Swift Antelope have already told me."
"I would take my woman back to her land," Hunter said. "I know the words of the prophecy, eh? And I would not displease the Great Ones, but I see no other path I might walk."
Hunter's mother rose to her knees. "My husband, I request permission to speak."
Many Horses squinted into the shadows. "Then do it, woman."
She moved forward into the light, her brown eyes fathomless in the flickering amber. "I would but sing part of the song, so we might hear the words and listen." She tipped her head back and clasped her hands before her. In a singsong voice, she recited, "'When his hatred for the White Eyes is hot like the summer sun and cold like the winter snow, there will come to him a gentle maiden from land.'"
"Yes, wife, I know the words," Many Horses said impatiently.
"But do you listen?" Woman with Many Robes fixed her all-seeing gaze on her eldest son. "Hunter, she did not come to you, as the prophecy foretold. You took her by force."
"
, what is it you're saying? That she would have come freely?" A breath of laughter escaped Hunter's lips. "The little blue-eyes? Never."
His mother held up a hand. "I say she would have, and that she shall. You must take her to her wooden walls. The Great Ones will lead her in a circle back to you."
Hunter glanced at his father. Many Horses set his pipe aside and gazed for a long while into the flames. "Your mother may be right. Perhaps we have acted wrongly, sending you to fetch her. Perhaps it was meant for her to come of her own free will."
Hunter swallowed back an argument. Though he didn't believe his little blue-eyes would ever return to Comancheria freely, his parents had agreed that he should take her home, and that was enough. "What will lead her back to me, ?"
Woman with Many Robes smiled. "Fate, Hunter. It guides our footsteps. It will guide hers.
Hunter's gut contracted. In that instant he realized how much he wanted the woman beside him. "I would prefer that my eyes never again fall upon her than to see her die." His mouth twisted. "She has great heart for one so small. She makes war with nothing, and wins."
Many Horses nodded. "
, yes, Warrior and Swift Antelope have already told me."
"I would take my woman back to her land," Hunter said. "I know the words of the prophecy, eh? And I would not displease the Great Ones, but I see no other path I might walk."
Hunter's mother rose to her knees. "My husband, I request permission to speak."
Many Horses squinted into the shadows. "Then do it, woman."
She moved forward into the light, her brown eyes fathomless in the flickering amber. "I would but sing part of the song, so we might hear the words and listen." She tipped her head back and clasped her hands before her. In a singsong voice, she recited, "'When his hatred for the White Eyes is hot like the summer sun and cold like the winter snow, there will come to him a gentle maiden from land.'"
"Yes, wife, I know the words," Many Horses said impatiently.
"But do you listen?" Woman with Many Robes fixed her all-seeing gaze on her eldest son. "Hunter, she did not come to you, as the prophecy foretold. You took her by force."
"
, what is it you're saying? That she would have come freely?" A breath of laughter escaped Hunter's lips. "The little blue-eyes? Never."
His mother held up a hand. "I say she would have, and that she shall. You must take her to her wooden walls. The Great Ones will lead her in a circle back to you."
Hunter glanced at his father. Many Horses set his pipe aside and gazed for a long while into the flames. "Your mother may be right. Perhaps we have acted wrongly, sending you to fetch her. Perhaps it was meant for her to come of her own free will."
Hunter swallowed back an argument. Though he didn't believe his little blue-eyes would ever return to Comancheria freely, his parents had agreed that he should take her home, and that was enough. "What will lead her back to me, ?"
Woman with Many Robes smiled. "Fate, Hunter. It guides our footsteps. It will guide hers.
( Catherine Anderson )
[ Comanche Moon ]
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